Way to go, EddieCongratulations to my hero, Eddie Murray...

LETTERS

October 28, 1990

Way to go, Eddie

Congratulations to my hero, Eddie Murray, for winning the unofficial National League batting title. [Murray finished second behind Willie McGee, who finished the season in the American League.] I've followed every one of your box scores since you entered the National League. I've praised you, too, and defended you against the local philistines. I was so happy for you overtaking Dave Magadan on the day before my birthday. I couldn't have received a better gift than my favorite baseball player taking the unofficial title on the last day.

When the pressure is on, call up the best, No. 33. Way to go, Eddie!

Zachary F. Cullen

Baltimore

Baseball coverage lacking

Maybe Tim Kurkjian and Richard Justice spoiled us over the years, but Sun readers certainly deserve better baseball coverage than that provided by Peter Schmuck in 1990.

For someone with access to the field and clubhouse, Schmuck (( wrote like an average guy using Sports Illustrated and ESPN as sources. He then tried to cover his deficiencies with a grating smugness.

In August, he wrote that the Boston Red Sox could not win the American League East. Then he changed his mind so many times that reading him was like watching a tennis match. His attempts at humor (Golden Schmuck Awards?) fell as flat as his predictions.

I guess my disappointment with The Sun is like that felt by Orioles fans this year. After last year, we both expected more.

Joseph Szymanski

Catonsville

Orioles need Davey Johnson

Now that Frank Robinson's revolving-door season is over and Roland Hemond's Kittle o' Fish is done, let's get ex-New York Mets manager Davey Johnson in here to bring together a ballclub to enter the new Babe Ruth Stadium with some clout.

Paul V. Wieber Baltimore

More on Atlanta

One comment about Mike Littwin's comparison between Athens, Greece, and Atlanta as an Olympic site. He forgot to ask whether non-white runners would be allowed to run in a marathon if it went through Forsyth County.

Doug Sewell

Severna Park

Stick to the games

Apparently, sports reporting has taken on a new dimension. Instead of a description of action on the playing field, what the reader gets the next morning with his wake-up coffee is a long narrative about reaction: reaction from the winning pitcher, interview with the winning manager, quotes from the guy who got two or three hits or drove in the winning run.

Me? I like to know how the runs were scored (aside from that skeletonized version of score by innings), who made the good plays and who came up with misplays that contributed to the scoring.

Last Thursday morning's story on the second game of the World Series is a case in point. Although nine runs crossed the plate, the description of those occurrences could have been set down in one short paragraph. Two or three sentences took care of the winning run. And not a word about Jose Canseco's misadventure with Billy Hatcher's long fly ball to right.

I, for one, would like to know more about what's taking place on the playing field and less about after-game chitchat in the clubhouse.

Abner J. Kaplan Baltimore

Notre Dame deserved better

Call me one of those disgusting Notre Dame fans, but when I read the article in The Sun on the Notre Dame/Miami game, I was profoundly disappointed. Last year, when Miami beat Notre Dame, I had to read about how Miami pushed the Irish all over the field even though the statistics were even in terms of time of possession, total yardage and first downs. The score was not even, and I had to swallow that.

This year, the Irish won, but I have to read about how sad it is for Miami to have its season ruined because of mistakes and miscues. I wanted to read not about how Miami lost, but about how it was beaten.

The turnovers and bad breaks were even in this game. But Notre Dame whipped Miami this time. I'd like to have the satisfaction to appreciate this sweet victory longer.

We live in a troubled world, and sports are a diversion. I look to sportswriters to extend this passion. But I felt robbed when the focus of the article was not Notre Dame's triumph but Miami's loss.

I wanted to read about how Miami had the ball first-and-goal at the Notre Dame 3 but was held to a field goal, how the questionable Notre Dame defense rose up to frustrate the Miami offense. I wanted to hear again about how the fourth quarter usually belongs to Miami but how through the third and fourth quarters, Notre Dame dominated. But I can't say these things as well as a good sportswriter. Notre Dame deserved the best hype this year, and that article didn't give it.